


Miles of Conversation

by tommygirl



Category: Veritas: The Quest
Genre: Family Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 19:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18784357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tommygirl/pseuds/tommygirl
Summary: Nikko isn't sure how he ended up on a road trip with his father or how to process the conversations his father wants to have.  Random conversations in the car with his dad as Solomon tries to bond with his son.





	Miles of Conversation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flashforeward](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashforeward/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy the story! It was fun to revisit this fandom again. We never truly got to see where Nikko and Solomon's relationship could have gone, so I tried to bring a few moments of father-son conversations. Thank you to my beta for the help and trying to figure out a structure to the conversations.

**_Mile One – The Not-Quite-Deep Start to Conversation_ **

“Why are we doing this again?” Nikko whined as he tossed his dufflebag into the SUV.

His father patted his back before shoving his own bag into the trunk and closing it.  Nikko resisted the urge to roll his eyes - he had promised Maggie he would give this a chance, even if this whole thing screamed of heart-to-heart coming-of-age stories and he could not handle that.

Solomon moved around to the driver’s seat and said, “I need to give this guest lecture at the university and it would be good for you to start looking at colleges.”

”Dude, I’m not going to college in Canada.”

”The team is getting a few days off and I thought it would be nice for you to come with me.”

“It’s not the coming with you part, Dad.  It’s the driving _to Canada._ It'll bejust the two of us in a car for hours and hours.  It's like you're asking for trouble."

"I think you and I can handle a few hours together."

"So many hours," Nikko countered.

“I told you we could stop in New Hampshire for the night since we got a late start.”

“Lucky me,” Nikko muttered as he took his spot in the passenger’s seat.  He glanced around and said, “We need to make a stop for snacks.”

“Why didn’t you pack them?”

“It’s a road trip, Dad.  You just said so.  We need to buy sustenance, preferably at some weird little gas station from a man dressed in overalls.”

“You realize we’re still in the city.”

“You’ll just have to remember for the trip back.  But seriously, snacks.”

His dad sighed, the kind that was all how-did- _I_ -give-life-to- _this_ , and started the car.  Nikko began fiddling with the radio, but his father swatted his hand away.  He said, “I thought we could talk.”

“About what?”

“About life.”

Nikko arched an eyebrow and grimaced.  “Life?  That’s a pretty broad topic, Dad.  Do you want to get into the history of mummies because coming off that last trip to Egypt, I’d prefer not to.”

“I do know how to have conversations about things other than mummies.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Nikko grumbled.  He noticed his father shoot him a look and he shrugged. “So, I had an interesting day.  Juliet taught me all about mold spores and I managed to prank Chuck pretty good yesterday so he was in a mood this morning.  You’d think I stole his journal from his sad emo years.”

“The whole office heard that commotion.”

“A good time was had by all, except for Cal, but someone has got to keep his ego in check,” Nikko replied.  He watched the scenery give way from the parking garage to the busy city street.  He stretched back in his chair and glanced over at his dad.  He said, “You’re a professor.  Some of your students had to prank you.”

“I’ve earned the ire of a few students in my time.  Nothing like what you did at that last boarding school…or the one before that.”

“Don’t overlook Haverford, Dad.  The Dean’s furniture on the lawn was a work of genius and I didn’t lift a finger myself.”

“If you put half as much effort into your studies…”

“If you had put half as much effort into being a parent…” Nikko countered.

His dad’s hands clenched on the steering wheel and Nikko silently debated if his father would turn the car around at the next city block.  Nikko kept waiting for the other foot to drop.  They had finished off the original arrangement – him studying with Juliet for the rest of the term – and he had expected to find brochures on military school waiting for him on his bed.  Add to it that he had been moving things with his freaking mind recently…

His father was going to write him off or, even worse, look at him like some artifact to be studied.  Solomon would have Maggie and the others poking at him as they tried to figure out how his only son could be so broken.

“I’m sorry you felt that way, Nicholas.”

Nikko could hear the regret in his father’s tone, but it was hard for Nikko to completely trust it.  They had made a lot of progress recently, but that was still so far from normal or healthy.  He was trying really hard not to resent him as much as he used to, but he barely knew Solomon Zond.   The man who Nikko was starting to spend time with was part-awesome and part-pain-in-the-ass, but Nikko had learned a long time ago not to put his father up on some pedestal or to hope for too much.  Solomon fit better with people like Cal and Juliet.  Nikko was a handful _before_ the freaky shit started happening to him.

“You can only hold onto resentment for so long before you’re just screwing yourself over, you idiot,” Juliet had told him a few weeks ago after a shouting match between him and his dad had taken place on the jet.  Maggie had followed it up with her own pearl of wisdom, which was basically the same thing as Juliet but with a little more kindness.  Vincent just stared at him and shook his head.

After his mother died, Nikko worked hard not to get attached to any person or place.  When Vincent would push him in their sessions, he would try to annoy the man with a response of “everything and everyone is fleeting, grasshopper.”  It only made Vincent chuckle and kick his ass during training.  And Nikko was pretty sure that Vincent told his father everything.  He wondered how his dad and Mr. Fortune Cookie became friends.  How did they go from Vincent being a part of DORNA to his dad’s partner-in-crime? 

“Nikko, I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“If you say so, Dad.”

“I was a mess after your mother died.”

“And I wasn’t?  I was seven years old and suddenly alone in the world.  Sorry it was so damn hard for you.”

“It’s not an excuse, it’s just the truth.  Once I had my feet back under me, I was caught up with VERITAS and DORNA.  You’ve seen how dangerous they are.  I couldn’t risk your safety.”

“And you couldn’t be bothered to be a dad.”

“You have every right to be angry.  I know that, but I can only try to move forward and make up for it as best as I can.  I want us to have a relationship, Nicholas.”

“Until I’m shipped back off to boarding school.”

Solomon glanced over at him and said, “I already asked Juliet to stay on next year.”

“You use her for a lot more than tutoring me.  I get it.”

“Nikko, that’s not-“

“-I just really hope it’s not military school.  Or a really douchey all boy’s academy like out of _Dead Poets Society_.  Ashmore was like that and I wanted to kill myself.”

“Instead you started a fire in the bathroom.”

“I never do anything half way.”

“It’s one of the things I admire about you.”

“Oh man,” Nikko whined.

“I wasn’t planning to send you back to boarding school.  You’ve been doing so well.  You’re a part of the team and I like seeing you every day, kid.  If you want-“

“-is this for real?”

“I thought you already knew.”

“How would I know that, Dad?  We never talked about it.”

Solomon reached out with one hand and ruffled Nikko’s hair.  He said, “Maggie told me I was an idiot.  As usual, she’s right.”

“I’m telling her you said that,” Nikko responded.  He chewed on his lip for a moment and asked, “You really want me around?”

“You’re my son, Nikko.  Of course I want you around.  And the team would be at a loss without you.  You’re still too impulsive and reckless for my liking, but Vincent points out that you take after me.”

Nikko ducked his head and smiled.  A part of him wanted to lean over and hug his Dad.  A part of him wanted to expound on how much these months of belonging to a family again meant to him.

But he was not that guy and no amount of quality family time would change that.  So he pulled his CDs out of his bag and flipped through for proper road trip tunes.

“I’m driving, so I control the radio.”

“That’s not fair.  I can’t drive,” Nikko complained.  Solomon turned on the radio and Nikko groaned, “Not NPR.”

“No reason this trip can’t be educational.”

“Oh my God, Dad.  Why not just make me listen to _War & Peace_ on audio book while we’re at it.”

“Keep it up and I will.”

 

**_Mile One Hundred & Fifty-Two – From Boredom to Random_ **

“Do you even know where we are?”

“Yes, Nikko.”

“Are you sure?  Because every tree looks the same to me.”

“You wanted to use the back roads.”

“You’re supposed to be the smart adult who doesn’t listen to his broody teenager.  Who are you and what have you done with my father?”

“I’ll pull over as soon as I can.”

“You know this is the set-up for every horror movie made in the past forty years.”

“Are you the young ingénue in this scenario?”

Nikko snorted and said, “Im quite handsome, but nope.   _We_ are the characters in the first scene, where the relatives of the beautiful heroine get murdered horribly.  Then the hot chick comes to grieve and learn what happened only to face some psycho or horde of zombies or a psycho horde of zombies.”

“I don’t watch horror movies.”

Nikko’s eyes widened and said, “What?”

“I saw Exorcist when I was a kid and it scared the shit out of me.  Never been my cup of tea.  Your mother teased me about it.”

“She liked horror movies?”

“Some of them.  She was more into ghost stories.”

“She would tell me ghost stories all the time.”

“I remember.  You wouldn’t let go of my side after some of her stories.”

Nikko could easily picture it.  There had been a time when the three of them had been a family, but those memories were slowly fading and sometimes he wasn’t sure what was real and what his mind had created when he felt so alone over the years.  His dad seemed to read his mind in an almost Vincent-like way and said, “We had a lot of good times as a family.  Your mother adored you.”

“I miss her.”

“I miss her too.  She’d be proud of the man you’re becoming and she’d probably murder me for the distance between us.”

“So ghost stories, yes, but horror, not so much?  What was her favorite movie?”

“She loved Sleepless in Seattle.”

“Ew.”

“It wasn’t so bad.”

“I got stuck watching it once with Maggie.  She kept dabbing her eyes and quoting it.”

“Sounds about right.”

“I know she used to have soap operas on in the background while she would be reading things.”

His dad laughed and said, “She would act like she wasn’t paying attention – it’s just white noise, honey – but if I tried to change the channel, a book would get thrown at my head.”

“Why don’t I remember that part?”

“Because your mother wanted to set a good example for you.”

“You two really loved each other.”

“Yes, we did.”

“That’s cool.”

“We really loved you too.  We still do.”

“Oh Jesus.  Did you read some weird self-help book?”

 

  _ **Mile One Hundred Eighty - bad music and avoidance**_

“I’m ashamed to call you my father.”

”The man is talented.”

”No wonder the only date you’ve had in forever drugged you.  Kenny G?  Dad, what is wrong with you?”

Solomon sighed and said, “Do I give you a hard time about all that crap you listen to?”

”You cannot compare our musical tastes!  Kenny G?  Those sarcophagi must have rotted your brain.”

”Keep it up and I’ll leave you on the side of the road.”

”Even Chuck has better music.”

His father reached over in the blink of an eye and snatched the CD case out of Nikko’s hands.  His father could be cool, all the while be embarrassingly dorky.  

“What do you want to do later?”

”Stab my ears out.”

”Nikko...”

”We can watch some tv.  I don’t really think we’ll have a ton of options, Dad.”

”maybe we can talk.”

”That’s all we’ve been doing.”

”I really want to understand what’s going on with you.”

Nikko stiffened in his seat and responded, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

”You’ve been quiet lately.”

”Juliet is a slave driver.”

”I know you think I’m oblivious to you, Nicholas, but I can see something is bothering you.  And I’m worried about you.”

Nikko shut his eyes and muttered, “I’m tired.” 

 

**_Mile Two Hundred – The Cat Is Out of the Bag_ **

Nikko drummed his fingers on the dashboard as he bobbed his head to his music and shut his eyes.  So far this trip had not been what he was expecting.  At least not entirely.   The boredom and the lack of radio reception were as annoying as expected, but he had expected an awkward silence or conversations about DORNA and the next big chase to beat them.

His dad hadn’t mentioned VERITAS once since the trip had started.  He might have been joking earlier, but Nikko was beginning to wonder if his father was a clone of some sort.

“I’m not a clone.”

Nikko glanced over at his dad and Solomon said, “You said that out loud.”

“Fine.  Not a clone, pea-pod Dad.”

”Ready to talk?”

”We have been talking for hours.”

”Not enough.”

”C’mon Dad,” Nikko whined. 

“I realized that I’ve asked you to make an effort the past few months and I need to do better about that as well.  You nearly died twice recently, Nikko, and it put a lot in perspective for me.  You’re the most important thing in my life.  I don’t want us to have any regrets.  We both know how quickly things can change.  It shouldn’t have taken me nearly losing you to realize that.”

“Please don’t use the word ‘bonding.’  Please don’t use the word ‘bonding,’” Nikko replied, folding his hands like he was praying.

“Smart ass.”

“Can we stop soon?”

“Tired of my company already?”

“Nature is calling and I’m bored.”

“You can’t keep avoiding me, son.  I’m trying to get you to open up to me.  I want you know that you can count on me.”

“We have talked more in the last couple of hours than we have in years.  I’m a broody teenager, Dad.  I can only handle so many heartfelt moments before I melt like the Wicked Witch.”

”You’re carrying something with you and I want to understand.”

”You taking lessons from Vincent in being omniscient or something?”

”I’m a parent.  It’s part-and-parcel of the job,” his dad responded.  Nikko huffed but didn’t offer up anything else.  He was feeling antsy and trying to keep the nervous energy at bay.  Weird things happened these days when he got like this.  His father continued, “Vincent told me that you’ll be able to beat me in a rematch soon.”

Nikko shook his head and said, “No thanks.”

“He says with a little more patience you might become better than him.”

“No one is better than Vincent.”

“He’s fond of you.”

“How can you tell?  It’s the smirk, isn’t it?  I knew it said ‘I-heart-Nikko’ even if Chuck said I was delusional.”

“He’s worried about you.”

“What?”

“You’ve been all over the place.  It’s obvious something is going on.  I had hoped you’d come to me or Vincent-“

”-there’s nothing wrong.”

”I’m not an idiot.”

“How do you know that’s this is just not who I am?  You haven’t been a big part of my life over the years.”

”That crap won’t work.  You won’t guilt me into dropping this.  We’ve all seen it, Nikko.  And I get it.  You’re a teenager.  You wouldn’t share everything with me, even if we had never been…I don’t particularly _want_ to know everything that runs through your head.  But something has been bothering you and I want to understand.”

“Is that what this trip was about?”

“What?”

“I’m a problem to solve.  I get it now.”

“You obviously do not get it.  You’ve been distancing yourself and the whole team has noticed,” Solomon replied.  He shut the music off and, after a few awkward moments that seemed to drag on, he went on, “I’m worried about you, Nikko.  Are you still getting nightmares from what happened at the castle?”

“How did-“

“-I’m your father.  It’s my job to know these things.  I should’ve gone to you, but I didn’t…I’m doing this all wrong.”

“Dad, it’s fine.  I’m fine.”

“I know you spent a lot of years thinking you were on your own, even though I never meant for that to happen, but you’re not now.  I’m here and you come first.”

“We both know that’s not true, so don’t say something like that.”

“Our benefactor wanted us to head to Russia this week.  I told him it could wait.”

“But-“

“-I like to think I’m not too old to learn a lesson, Nikko.  I meant it earlier when I said that you were the most important person in my life.  I still remember when you were born.  Your mother laughed as the doctor handed you to me.  You were perfect, reminded me so much Haley, and I swore that I would always protect you.  I haven’t always done a good job of that, but I’m trying.”

“You won’t if I talk about it.”

“You’re allowed to still be angry with me.  It’s probably better if we get it out.”

“I’m not…I mean, I am, sometimes, but not as much as I used to.”

”So what is it?”

”I can’t, Dad. Things have been too good.”

“You were shot and bitten by a poisonous scorpion in the last couple of months.  How is any of that good?”

“Okay, not that part, but I feel like I fit in with everyone.  Vincent is teaching me how to be badass, which girls always love.  I never actually wanted a brother, but I do love to annoy Cal like he is mine.  And I like hanging out with you sometimes.”

“I like spending time with you too.”

“See.  It’s great.  It’s fine.”

“And that won’t change just because you tell me about whatever is bothering you.”

“And you shouldn’t make a promise like that.”

His father huffed and the silence took over again.  It felt like an eternity in horrible silence even if Nikko knew it was no more than a minute.  He tried not to react at first as his father found a safe place to pull the car over, unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to look at Nikko with that furrowed brow, but he wanted to bolt.  Nikko was not good at After-school Special conversations.  He always said the wrong thing and he really didn’t want to screw up what he had managed to fork out for himself.  His dad might not have been planning to ship him off again, but he had no idea how the man would react to the “I might have superpowers” conversation.

Except it was the middle of nowhere and it was getting dark and Nikko was not in the mood to get killed by falling in a hole, eaten by a bear or murdered by a psycho...so Nikko sat there frozen in his seat for another eternity of awkward silence.

His father squeezed his leg and said, “Nikko, I get why you don’t trust me, but give me a chance to prove you wrong.”

“Conversations like these are why kids turn to drugs.”

“I’ve let this go for too long.  I had hoped you would come to me or Vincent, but I’m not…you mean too much for me not to address this.  I’m worried.”

“You and me both.”

“Explain.”

Nikko grabbed his soda can from the cup holder and pushed out of the car, slamming it behind him.  His hand shook as he placed the can on the hood and stepped away.  His father glared at him and said, “We could get hit by a car like this.”

Nikko held out his hand and sent the can flying to the ground next to his father, who stumbled backwards in shock. Nikko shut his eyes and focused on the energy he could feel burning in his palm and lifted the can up into the air, knowing it would be hovering near his dad.  Over the past few weeks, he had perfected it with the can, but wasn’t quite ready to move onto bigger things. 

“Nicholas.”

Nikko opened his eyes and the can fell back to the ground.  Nikko said, “It started after the castle.”

“That was almost a month ago!” Solomon said, moving over to Nikko.  He grabbed him by the shoulders and Nikko met his father’s appraising gaze.  Solomon frowned and asked, “Does it hurt?”

“Not anymore.”

“Anymore?”

“I got a migraine the first few times I practiced.”

“Those few days where you looked like death and swore it was nothing.”

“It was nothing.  I just pushed myself.  I was trying to understand it.”

“You’re on a team with some of the smartest people in the world, Nikko.  Didn’t you think we would help you?”

“Study me, like I’m some part of the prophecy that you need to stop DORNA from completing!  I didn’t want anyone to know.”

“What if this is hurting you?  What if that castle…”

“I feel fine, Dad.  It freaks me out, but it’s also sort of cool.  Maybe I can be a Star Wars Jedi.”

“This is not a joke, Nikko.  It could be killing you.  I think we should find a place to sleep tonight so I can touch base with the team and head back to the city tomorrow.”

“But Canada waits for no man.”

”Do not start.”

‘Yeah, I knew you’d get like this.”

’I’m trying to think!  You sprung this on me.”

“You demanded I explain what was going on.  I used the show-and-tell method of explaining.  I don’t want the whole team playing the protect-Nikko game.”

“They want to protect you because they care about you.”

“Because none of you think I am capable of taking care of myself.”

“The point, son, is that you don’t have to.  You’re a part of the team, of a family, and each of them care about you.  And there is no way in hell, we are not going to learn more about whatever is going on.”

“Dad…”

“I’m not scared of you, Nicholas.  That’s why you didn’t want to say anything, right?”

“Who wants the freak for a son?”

“With everything we’ve seen, you think I would judge you for this?  I’m concerned.  I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I don’t even know how it happened.  It didn’t start until we were back home.  I moved a soda can with my mind.  I thought that I was thirsty and the can slid across the table to me.  I thought I was going crazy at first.”

Solomon hugged him tight and Nikko slowly leaned into his father’s embrace.  He said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t feel like you could.”

“I keep thinking that if I can learn to use it, it might help you beat DORNA.”

“I don’t want you using this ability until we understand it.”

“Dad…”

“Non-negotiable.  After we’ve researched-“

“-I’m not one of your artifacts.”

“No, you’re my son and I’ll be damned if I lose someone else I love to any of this,” his dad snapped.  His Dad cupped Nikko’s face in his hands and forced a comforting smile.  He said, “I want to understand what we’re dealing with and I think you do too.”

“Yeah.  Might help with the nightmares of me accidentally blowing up the city like some comic-book villain.”

“Get back in the car.  We’ll find a motel for the night and  get some sleep.”

“Okay.”

“We don’t have to go back to the city as long as you promise to tell me if you start to feel any pain.”

“I can do that.”

“And you let me pick what we watch on television.  I can’t stand those reality shows you love.”

“It’s better than the news.  All you watch is the news.”

“That’s not true.  I enjoy a lot of those World War II specials.”

Nikko got into the car.  Once his father was reseated, he said, “You’re lucky it’s cold or I would not be agreeing to these terms.”

His dad rested his hand on Nikko’s shoulder for a brief second before starting the car back up.  He said, “Did I ever tell you about the time I decided to throw your mother a surprise party?”

“You?  On your own?  That could not have gone well.”

“You’re right.  It was a nightmare.”

“Do tell,” Nikko said.  Despite the emotions and energy zipping around the car, he felt better than he had in weeks.  The Nikko of a year ago would’ve scoffed at not only the idea of enjoying a road trip with his father, but feeling better by confiding in his dad.  They weren’t perfect.  They would probably always butt head and Nikko wasn’t sure all the resentment he felt would ever completely go away…but his father was trying and, for the first time in years, Nikko knew that his dad loved him.

And maybe if he was lucky, he would be the first real-life X-Men and save the world from DORNA all the while getting a hot girl to marry.   


End file.
